


The World Can Wait

by konoyo



Category: Monster of the Week (Tabletop RPG), Seven Miles (Roleplaying Game)
Genre: Other, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-03-08
Packaged: 2019-11-13 23:13:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,648
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18040907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konoyo/pseuds/konoyo
Summary: The road to hell is paved with good intentions and sometimes a quarter of a century feels like no time at all.





	The World Can Wait

Valentine Ewing has always done well for themselves. The situation in the Keys is no different from anything else they put their mind to: problems are identified, assessed and solved like clockwork before they get out of hand. The supernatural is now an open secret in Key West which really only makes it easier to deal with. It doesn't bring down real estate prices any, that's for sure. Twenty five years of practice made perfect. They aren't needed for much, either. Maintaining the status quo only requires leg work and once Val sets a direction, pieces tend to fall into place under their watch, leaving them to their hoard of books. Even meetings are rare, except from the occasional powerful guest or if the Santistabans decided it isn't beneath them to check in for a visit.

So when a face they'd last seen a quarter of a century ago walks straight through the door, announced by only a squeak of hinges and a hurried introduction by the Wardlow trying to get in ahead of him, Val finds themselves unprepared. Their blood runs cold. He hasn't aged a day, still trapped in some nebulous space right before 30. Still blond and fresh faced, perfectly preserved, not like Val and the streaks of grey running through their braid, the crows feet at the corners of their eyes. He's radiant. "Stefan..." They're not dealing with this. "No, no, get out."

"We need to talk," Stefan says, measured.

"I said get _out_ ," Val repeats, which sends the Wardlow out of the room, the door shutting behind them. Stefan, however, doesn't budge. Still dressed in white with the taunting little pin at his throat but this time with an air of assurance Val doesn't remember him having. "Have you gone deaf? I don't want to see you. Get. Out."

"I've been sent-"

"Of course, you were-"

"Valentine, your methods-"

"Are you here to tell me how to live my life again?" Val is up in Stefan's face now, striding across the room with enough speed that Stefan's sword is visible at his hip.

Stefan squares his shoulders and takes a breath. "I am here to make sure that the proper precautions to maintain the secrecy and therefore _safety_ of the community are being taken."

"So you're here to tell me that I'm reckless and irresponsible. I got that much from the last thing you ever said to me, _thanks_ ," Val says with a scowl. It wasn't even so much said as a little note left on the kitchen table. They still remember the cramped, slanting handwriting, the confusion they felt when it was the only thing left of Stefan in the morning. Confusion and anger but not heartbreak, no, that came later.

"You were going to kill yourself trying," Stefan says, still calm and not giving any ground. "I didn't want that." There are no more pauses and uhms in his speech.

"So you just ran away. It fucking figures, you goddamn coward."

Val had tried to track him down. Stefan was thorough but the note was still there, they were able to use that. They caught glimpses of his face, the various interiors of hotel rooms and cars but by the time they got there, the only thing present was the memory of their vision, drifting on the faint smell of cigarette smoke. It seemed like Stefan was better at disappearing than Val had thought. Or perhaps Stefan really just didn't want to see them.

They still have the note, folded up neatly in a top drawer of their desk, because they are hopeless.

Now they can see that Stefan flares his nostrils, the words clearly piercing through. "I see that even me leaving didn't teach you any lessons."

Val freezes, their hands balling into fists. The room shudders and warps for a moment and their vision doubles in a very familiar way as their eye opens, just for a moment. They catch a glimpse of the gold collar, now joined by gold bands on Stefan's wrists, golden veins winding their way up his neck, delicate and spindly, reaching for his eyes. The magic subsides as quickly as it came and only leaves Valentine angrier still. "And you still let him walk all over you. Daddy's golden little boy, as always."

"Fuck you, Valentine," Stefan spits, his hand suddenly pulling Val sharply forward by the front of their shirt. "I wouldn't need to be here if you hadn't been spending all these years on flashy power grabs and trying to make Key West the magic capital of the world for your own selfish benefit."

Val tries to tear Stefan's hand off their shirt but Stefan is much stronger than they remember so they shove at him bodily instead, elbowing him in the ribs. It does little more than push Stefan half a step back but it's _satisfying_. Satisfying in the way that tearing off hotel bed sheets and sending a lamp shattering against the wall never was. The anger comes easily, even twenty five years later. So they try again, twisting and taking Stefan's hand with them, punching him square in the jaw.

This time, Stefan frowns like it's at least something of an inconvenience and that's also satisfying but then Val is treated to a swift fist to the center of their chest and they're doubling over, trying to breathe.

"I'm not here to fight you, Val," Stefan says somewhere above them. "Please." He's letting Val use him as a support while they cough and rub their chest.

"He should have sent someone else," Val rasps, straightening and wiping their mouth on a sleeve.

Stefan's hand is still tight on the collar of their shirt. "Well, he sent _me_."

"Why? To watch me squirm? I'm sure he loves seeing me absolutely lose it over you."

"This isn't about you, Val," Stefan says with a grimace.  
  
"Who is it about then? You? Does he want to see if you can finally find a way to use me, to control me?" Val's hands are curled around Stefan's fist now, not trying to get him off anymore but still resisting.

"This isn't about _you_ , Val," Stefan repeats, giving them a shake. "It's probably a test for me... I know he wants to see me in Amalia's place. This... This is to see if I can resist repeating all my mistakes with you all over again."

Val stops, their hands dropping slowly to their sides. The fight has gone out of them with just those couple of words. "Was that what I was to you? Just a mistake?" What could they do? They hadn't even been able to get Stefan to stay the first time.

"No, Val... No. Never. But you... You don't do anything in half measures. And I should have realized that. I shouldn't have let it go that far. But now that you've moved on-"

"Now that I've _moved on_? That's fucking rich, Stefan. You just disappeared, broke my heart and I'm just supposed to move _on_ with my life?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, but yes. You're the only one of us who can move on." Stefan's hand uncurls, pressing flat against Val's chest and Val can't help but lean into the touch. "I thought you had. Please tell me you have."

Val looks away. "I still have the note you left me."

"I called you an idiot in it."

"You did."

"I'm sorry."

"You'd better be."

Stefan can probably feel Val's heartbeat under his fingertips and the skin there is warming. "I missed you," he says. "And I really am sorry. For all of this, how it turned out. I wish it were different."

"So do I," Val says, their eyes falling closed for a moment as Stefan's hand moves, up along their neck to gently cup their jaw, lifting it so they have to look at him. They're not as handsome as they used to be but that doesn't seem to matter. "You're going to fail your test."

"I know," Stefan says. "Oh well."

Kiss me, Val thinks, but all that comes out is "Please." And Stefan, bless him, understands and does it anyway, thoroughly, until they're both backed up against Val's desk. Val's braid is slowly untwisting, the stolen hair tie around Stefan's wrist now, and they have their arms around Stefan's shoulders. They separate only so that Val can sweep the pile of books and papers off their desk and send their sword clattering to the floor. Stefan's hands are already under their shirt as they sit back on the surface of the desk and drag him into another kiss.

They undo the pin at Stefan's throat and chuck it, as hard as they can, to the opposite side of the room where it bounces with a dull thump off the door. Stefan laughs and kisses them again, just for that. Good riddance to that thing. Val doesn't want to see it.

The door hesitantly creaks open then stops abruptly as Val is in the process of tugging off Stefan's shirt.  "Uhm..." Oh, was that poor kid still outside? They look rather aghast now and Val doesn't really blame them.

"Be a dear and lock that before you close it, will you?" they say, not really pausing in what they're doing. Stefan is beet red and not turning around. Well, good. The kid turns an equally bright shade of red, reaches around to twist the lock on the other side of the knob then shuts the door with a hurried snap. "Perfect."

Stefan dips forward to hide his face in Val's shoulder. "What are we doing, Val?"

Val curls their arms around him, squeezing. "Making up for lost time like there's nothing else that matters in the world. The world can wait until tomorrow, wouldn't you say?"

Stefan shivers and turns to kiss them again. "Yeah. Yeah, it can."


End file.
